Controlling means for automatic train-stops.



H. S FOLKER.

CONTROLLING MEANS FOR AUTOMATIC TRAIN STOPS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. I2, 1915.

PateritedNov. 12, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- INVENTOR IH TOR 8- H. S. F'OLKER.

CONTROLUNG MEANS FOR AUTOMATIC TRAIN STOPS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 12, l9l5.

Patented Nov. 12, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

INVENTOR.

BY Q 4 ATT ii FFIOE.

HOWARD S. FOLKEE, 0F OROVILLE, CALIFO.'l:'t1\TIA., ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL SAFETY APPLIANCE COMPANY, OI SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OI CALIFORNIA.

CONTROLLING FOR AUTOMATIC TRAIN-STOPS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 12, 1918.

Application filed October 12, 1915. Serial No. 55,424.

To all whom it may concern:

-Be it known that I, HOWARD S. Fomrnn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Oroville, county of Butte, and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Controlling Means for Automatic Train-Stops, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

This invention relates to a pneumatically operative and electrically controlled device applicable for use in automat1c tram stop mechanism.

()ne of the objects of this invention 15 to provide meansfor preventing the release of the brakes and the resetting of the train stopuntil after the train has been brought to a stand-still.

Another object is to provide a duplex or tandem valve of improved construction in the combination, which will permit any valve leakage that may occur when the parts are in their normal position, to escape to atmosphere, thereby preventing interference with the effective operation of the train stop mechanism,which interference is apt to occur in the use of a valve of ordinary construction.

Other objects will appear from the following specification and claims.

The invention is designed for use in con junction with any standard automatic air brake system and it is so regulated according to train equipment that only the regular service application of brakes is made, yet without preventing the engineer from giving an emergency ap llcatlon.

It is obvious that this invention is to be operated only when the stop signals have been disregarded or when the train is about to enter a railway block which is occupied.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 1s a diagrammatic view partly in vertical section with portions broken away of an automatic train stop and its co-acting duplex and diaphragm valves.

Fig. 2 is a vertical central longitudinal section of the improved duplex or tandem valve. I

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the duplex or tandem valve shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing the operative relation of the several valves, the train stop being shown in tripped position in contradistinction to its normal position as shown in Fig. 1.

In the drawings, similar characters indicate like parts.

Referring to Fig. 1, the train stop comprises a base 1, on which the graduating cylinder A and the brake application cylinder 2 are mounted. A piston 3 operating in the cylinder A divides the interior of said cylinder into two chambers 4 and 5. Chamber 4 is supplied with fluid pressure from the main reservoir by pipe 6 and port 7, the flow being controlled by a suitable needle valve 8.

The pressure in chamber 5 is controlled by the double diaphragm valve B, which is fully described in my co-pending application filed August 4th, 1915, Serial Number 43,592, and also hereinafter briefly described.

The piston 3 above referred to is secured to the rod 9 to which is also secured by an suitable means the duplex piston 10, whic in turn are secured to one end of the vent ing tube 11. Pistons 12 and 13 are secured to the left end of the venting tube 11 by means of a stud 13Pand act as a valve in the cylinder 2, to control the flow of fluid from the brake pipe 14. The piston 12 is of less diameter than that of the piston 13 for the purpose hereinafter described. A'l'ongitudinal opening 15 and apertures 16 are formed in the venting tube 11, and a collar 17 surrounds and is secured to said venting tube near the center thereof.

It it obvious that if fluid of sufficient pressure enters the chamber 5, the piston 3 will be forced to the left, and thereby cause the venting tube 11 to also move to the left. When the venting tube has traveled a short distance, the opening 15 will extend into the cylinder 2 and thus permit the air from the brake pipe 14 to escape to the atmosphere through the then uncovered apertures 16, thus giving a service application of the airbrake. The collar 17 coacts with the lever 18 to normally keep the valve 19 open against action of the spring 20. A pipe 21 leads to the exhaust of the engine distributing 'valvc D, conventionally shown in section in Fi 4, which distributing valve is also connected by suitable piping. to the brake cylinders, the main reservoir and a pressure gage, all as It is, of course, to be underclearly shown. stood that the distributing valve D used in the present system is a conventional valve structure controlled by the engineers automatic brake valve and operated by fluid pressure applied through the pipe 21 upon the piston 60 in the cylinder 61. This piston is connected by a piston rod 62 to the usual exhaust slide valve 63 operating to control the port 64 communicating with the pipe 21 and also operating to control the port 65 comnruber 67 and pipe 21 is c osed by the valve 19,

and the valve cannot be again opened until the train stop is re-set.

As is well known, in the usual operation of air brake systems it is necessary to release the air exhaust or air pressure from the brake cylinders in order to release thebrakes after they have been applied; therefore, this construction which will prevent the engineer from exhausting the brake cylinders will also prevent him from releasin the brakes. As has just been described, t e valve 19 when closed shuts off the exhaust from the brake cylinders through the distributing valve and thus the engineer is prevented from releasin the brakes.

The re-settmg can only be accomplished by first pressing closed an electric vent valve V in the pipe 22, and then operating the duplex or tandem valve 23, as will be hereinafter described. As conventionally shown the electrically controlled valve V consists of an electro-magnet 70, an armature 71 and a valve 72 rigidly secured to the armature by the core 73. It is obvious that upon the deenergizing of the electro-magnet the valve is pushed open by the pressure in the pipe 22 and the pipe is thereby vented. When the valve is pressed closed it is held on its seat by the energized magnet and armature 71.

This valve 23 is secured to a bracket 23" and is interposed between the pipe 6from the main reservoir, and the ipe 22 leading to the double diaphragm va ve B.

The valve 23 is of special design and consists of a casing 24, havin chambers 25, 26 and 27 "formed therein. alve seats 28 and 29 arev formed in the chambers 25 and 26. The valve heads 30 and 31 are normally held in contact with the seats 28 and 29b springs 32 and 33. Removable screw-threa ed plugs 34 and 35 form seats for the springs, and

the apertures which these plugs close up provide means for removing the valve heads for repair or for adjustment. Valve stems 36 and 37, secured to the valve heads 30 and 31, are provided with shoulders 38 and 39. Between said shoulders and the valve heads 30 and 31 are'washers 40 and 41 securely held in lace by nuts 42 and 43. w

n the. event that the valve washers40 and 41 become worn, they may be easily andquickly re laced :by removmgthe .plu 34 and 35. an lifting out the entire valve ead and stems. The nuts 42 and 43 may then be removed and new washers substituted for the ones 40 and 41. The bell crank 44 is pivoted at 45 and has a head 46 adapted to coact with the valve stems 36 and 37. A button 47 is attached to the long arm of the bell crank and when it is ressed, the head 46 of the short arm of the ell crank will lift the valve stems 36 and 37 and unseat their respective valves. p

The duplex valve 23 controls the flow of air from the main reservoir to the double diaphragm valve B, and must be operated by pressing the button 47 in order to reset the train stop.

The operation of the train stop and its controlling duplex and double diaphragm valves will now be described.

Main reservoir fluid pressure is connected by suitable pipe and fittings to the main air passage 7 in the upper part of the raduating cylinder A. The fluid in the 0 amber 4 formed by the piston heads 3 and- 10 is supplied from the passage 7 through the restricted port 7', the air flow being regulated by the application of the adjustment needle valve 8. The pressure in thechamber 4 acting on the larger area of the piston head 3 forces it to the extreme right or to its normal position thereby carrying with it the piston head 10 of smaller diameter.

The diaphragm valve takes its supply from the main air passage 7 through the passage a into the chamber 03 thence through the passage 6 and the restricted port 7 of fixed capacity into chamber g.- As the air pressure builds up in the chamber 9, the diaphragm h is deflected toward the chamber 11 carrying with it the diaphragm 2' which is of smaller area than the diaphragm h.

This causes the valve 7' to close into its seat.

70 thus shutting off the pressure from the chamber 5. The pressure in the chamber 9 flows through the passage m into the controlling pipe 1 and thence by suitable pipes and fittings to the venting valve (not shown) connected with the electromagnetic controlled valve in the cab.

The opening of the venting valve reduces the pressure in chamber 9 causing the dia- Laeaeee ph'ragms h and ito deflect toward the chamer 9 due to pressure in the chamber d and reduction of pressure in chamber 9. The port f is then closed by contact with the valve stem 0 thus shutting off the supply to the chamber 9 and forcing the valve O off its seat against the pressure of the spring w, thereby lowering the pressure in the chamber 9 to the normal pressure of the atmosphere by permitting the pressure to escape to the atmosphere past the valve 0 and through the port 9. The deflection of the double diaphragm is limited by the dia 7' and its seat is hence the pressure is builtup in chamber 5. When the pressure in the chamber 5 equals the pressure in chamber 4, its superior force against the greater area of piston 3 causes piston 10 to move toward the left in the direction of the arrow X. By this action, the pressure in the chamber 4 is forced back through the restricted passage 7'. The speed of these pistons is regulated by adjustment valve 8, which controls the flow of pressure forced from chamber 4.

The movement of piston 3 carries with it piston head 10, piston rod 9, venting tube 11 with disk 17 piston head 12, piston rod 13 and piston head 13. This operation causes the piston head 12 to travel with the venting tube 11 into the larger portion of cylinder 2, from which the brake-pipe pressure entering at 14: passes into the venting tube 11 through slot 1-5 and thence exhausts to atmosphere through apertures 16 which are normally covered in cylinder A. The speed of travel of venting tube 11 and the attached pistons is so regulated by the adjustment of the needle valve 8 as to reduce the brake-pipe pressure only to that necessary for a service application of brakes.

The valve 19 is connected by suitable pipe 21 and fittings to the exhaust port ofthe engine distributing valve. When the disk 17 moves, with tube 11 to which it is attached, the lever 18 is released, thereby permitting the spring 20 to close valve 19, thus shutting off the exhaust from the distributing valve and thus preventing the engineer from releasing the brakes until the automatic stop mechanism is again restored to normal position.

The train stop can be reset by first pressing closed the electric vent valve knob of the valv V in the cab and then pushing the release valve button 47 on the tandem or duplex valve 23 which button 47 can only be reached from the ground outside of the cab I of the engine.

The tandem or duplex valve 23 is back of the plate 23 carrying its valve button 47. This valve takes its fluid supply'from the main reservoir through pipe 6 which also supplies the cylinder A, the fluid entering at 6. When the release button i7 is ressed in, it raises the valve stems 36 and 3 allowing the fluid entering at 6' to pass the valve seats 28 and 29 through the chamber 27 to the outlet 22, thence through connecting tubing 22 to the controlling pipe at and through the passage m into the chamber 9 causing a pressure to build up in the chamber g, as the capacity of portm is much greater than the capacity of the port The increased pressure in chamber 9 causes the diaphragmsh and i to deflect toward chamber d, the valve 1', thus cuttingofi' the supply to chamber 5 and to the whistle 49 which quickly exhausts the fluid pressure in chamber 5. The pressure in chamber 5 being exhausted, the pistons will move back at once to their normal position and the valve 19 will reopen and permit the engineer to release the brakes and proceed subject to the signal indication of the automatic roadside marker at each automatic stop location. Whenever a train is stopped by the operation of the automatic stop device, a record is made by the automatic application counter 50.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an automatic train stop mechanism, means for venting the brake pipe pressure, means for moving said venting means into and out of operative position, a valve for controlling the supply of fluid under pressure to said moving means, means operated by fluid under pressure for operating said valve, means for controlling the supply of fluid under pressure to said valve operating means, and means for controlling the exhaust of fluid from said valve operating means.

2. In an automatic train stop mechanism, means for venting the brake pipe pressure, means for moving the venting means into and out of operative position, a valve for controlling the supply of fluid pressure thereto, a double diaphragm rigidly connected to said valve and means for causing for operating said valve, means for controlling the supply of fluid passing to said valve operating means, means for preventing the exhaust of pressure from the said valve operating means, and a recording means operatively connected therewith.

4. In an automatic train stop mechanism, means for venting the brake pipe pressure, means for moving the venting means into operative position, a valve controlling the supply of fluid pressure thereto, a double diaphragm rigidly connected to said valve, and means for causing a difl'erential of pressure upon the double diaphragm to thereby operate said valve.

5. In an automatic train stop mechanism, means for venting the brake pipe pressure,

' means for automatically moving said venting means into operative position, manually controlled means for moving said venting means'into its inoperative or normal position, means controlled by the movement of the venting means for preventing the exhaust of fluid pressure from the distributing valve.

6. In an automatic train stop mechanism, a double diaphragm valve, a tandem valve operatively connected thereto and interposed between a source of fluid pressure and said double diaphragm valve.

7 In an automat1c tram stop mechanism,

-a tandem "alve comprising a plurality of chambers, two of Which are provided with valve heads and seats, and a chamber partly tioned chambers.

9. In an automatic train stop mechanism, a tandem valve, means for venting said valve to atmosphere upon the leakage of the said valve, and a double diaphragm valve, its movement in one direction being controlled by the said tandem valve.

10. In a train stop mechanism, a source of fluid pressure, an automatic valve operated by a differential of pressure, manually operative means for restoring the parts to their normal positions operatively connected between the source of fluid pressure and the said automatic valve, said manually operated means comprising a tandem valve constructed to. vent to atmosphere upon leakage at the valve seats.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand at the city of Oroville, county of Butte, and State of California, this 4th day of Oct. 1915.

HOWARD S. FOLKER.

In presence of Gno. H. HEIMBU'RGER, Hem C. DOUGLAS. 

